17 Months Old!

1. Over the past month I became aware of the size of Ian's receptive vocabulary. His expressive vocabulary is just about nonexistent, although he does babble all the time. He can now follow many commands such as "touch Mommy's nose," "touch Daddy's ear," "go get your firetruck," or "put the kitty in the stroller."

2. He's not pooping as many times a day. I'm not complaining!!

3. He still loves to carry something around all the time although what that might be constantly changes. For awhile this past month it was a small stuffed kitten (the one Nadia named Patches). Sometimes when I get him in the morning he's sitting in his crib playing with a stuffed animal. This week his favorite toy is a small stuffed dog that Aunt Millie gave him for Easter.


4. He's starting to get the hang of sleeping at least 10 hours at night. He's actually slept until 6:30am several mornings in a row! Yay!!!


5. He now has 3 teeth! Part of his 3rd tooth (on the bottom) broke through recently.

6. He still pants a lot. When he's excited (which happens rather frequently), he starts panting and flapping his arms up and down. It cracks us up!

7. Over the past few months he's been really good at putting things on himself - putting on a necklace, hat, backpack, etc. He even attempts to put on his own jacket (although he hasn't succeeded at that yet). His fine motor and spatial skills seem to be advanced.

8. He loves to be chased. Sometimes he grabs a toy from Nadia so that she'll chase him to get it back.

9. Have I mentioned before that Ian throws things? Well he's been doing this for months. When he's done with his sippy cups, he tosses it (which can make a mess if it's not empty). That's just one example. He throws stuff ALL the time. He doesn't seem to comprehend yet that Mommy doesn't like this. Hopefully we can channel his desire to throw things to more appropriate objects like balls.

10. Although he's not talking, he's gotten much better at communicating over the past month. He shakes his head "no." He takes Paul or I by the hand and leads us toward something that he wants. He goes into the kitchen and stands near the microwave and points at it while fussing when he wants milk. He gets a book and then backs up so we'll pick him up and read to him. He walks over to the swing and fusses when he wants me to put him up in the swing.

11. He's consuming about 30 ounces a day of solid food, which is FAR more than he was eating 3 weeks ago. He's eating all different flavors of pudding and yogurt (as long as there aren't little pieces of fruit in it). He's also eating stage 1 or 2 fruits or veggies. The veggies have to be mixed in with something else. Today I mixed in a little cereal with the bananas/sweet potatoes and he didn't gag! That was a first. We're also working on applesauce.

12. He's consuming at most 20 ounces of whole milk a day, which is less than before. I've also cut back on how much cereal I put in his milk.

13. About once a week on average he still throws up somewhere other than his highchair, but now most of the time he only throws up in his highchair. He only wears an average of 2 outfits a day, which is an improvement. He only sabotages my outfit about once a week (that happened this morning). That's a big improvement. Maybe it's time to get the carpets shampooed. :-)


14. Ian absolutely loves to be outside. I think he'd be happy if we spent every waking hour outside. Ian does an excellent job of playing by himself when we're inside. In particular he loves to look at books.


15. Have I mentioned Ian is affectionate? Boy is he ever! If Paul is eating dinner with us, he still puts out his right hand for Daddy to hold while we're eating. He clings so tightly to me at times. Once he scratched Paul he was holding on so tightly! Yesterday after his surgery I didn't know if I was strong enough to break his grip on me. I was just trying to give him a little apple juice, but he did NOT want to let go of me.

16. He has the cutest "roar." Does that count as his first word? I've been trying to get a video of it. Hopefully I'll succeed in the near future! He also makes a "quack" sound for a duck although it's not quite as good as his "roar." He roars all the time when we're at the park. :-)
17. He's wearing size 18 month clothes and size 4 or 5 shoes. His sandals are size 5, and there are only a couple of pairs of size 4 shoes that still fit him. Size 18 month pants are too long, but in terms of pjs, shirts, and shorts - he's wearing size 18 months. He weighs 24 pounds.